The present disclosure relates generally to searches for software applications and to searches for specific software applications.
In recent years, downloading of software applications (or “apps”) from an on-line app store has become a popular method for obtaining software applications. Users can download a software application (also referred to as an “app”) from an on-line app store onto their device, such as a smartphone or desktop computer or laptop computer, and then install the app on their device. Prior to downloading an app, users often perform searches for either (1) a class (or type) of app or (2) a particular app specified by its name (or a portion of its name).
The number of apps has increased significantly, and therefore users have a large number of apps available to them. However, this large number can make finding an app difficult. When a user wants to find an app to fill a particular need, the number of apps returned in search results from a keyword search can be overwhelming, and the order of apps in the list may not be relevant to the user's need. Prior systems have attempted to improve the search results by classifying a search query and producing search results based on the classification of the search query; see, for example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US2013/0325892.